


Restless In Texas

by cnormich



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, Movie inspired, Pre-Relationship Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29151945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnormich/pseuds/cnormich
Summary: Christopher Diaz is lonely. Eddie Diaz is lonelier. Chris decides to take matters into his own hands and calls into a radio show on Christmas. Now listeners all over the country have fallen in love with the sad widower and his cute kid - including one firefighter Evan Buckley. Buck can't shake the feeling that something is drawing him to these two, even though he lives a thousand miles away. Could the Diaz boys be what he's been missing?
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Restless In Texas

“If you’re just tuning in, this is ‘The Talk with Taylor’. I’m Taylor Kelly, and when we come back, we’ll hear how our special guest, Hailey from Wisconsin, knew she had met the One, her true love, the oh-so-elusive soulmate. Don’t go away or you’ll miss the magic.”

  
Buck laughed and turned down the radio, checking his rearview mirror. She was so dramatic, was she trying to be funny? He wasn’t sure. _I’ll Be Home for Christmas_ played quietly from his car stereo, but it was some bubbly pop cover he’d never heard before and he didn’t care to pay attention to.

“Magic.” He said out loud, then shook his head at the blush that appeared on his cheeks as if he thought anyone had heard him. He’s always bristled at the thought of being so...irrational. Magic is for the movies. Sparks only fly on TV. He didn’t know why people make such a big deal. Dating is easy, right? Buy them a drink, smile, nod, fall into bed. Eventually you find someone who’s easy enough to talk to, someone with similar interests, and boom, there you go, next thing you know you’re doing the whole damn thing.

  
_Magic?_

  
His coworkers always teased him - and some days he definitely deserved it, but he always knew he’d settle down eventually. He knew he’d get there, find that someone. And that someone was Abby.

  
_Magic?_

  
He thought that Abby was as close as he could get to real magic. With her kind eyes, soft red hair that he loved to twirl his fingers through. The way she understood his passion for his work, and the way she depended on him. Did he wish he didn’t feel sometimes like he is chasing after her, grasping for any of her attention he can get, and that just for once, just once, he wanted to feel like the most important person in the world?

  
_(Like how he felt about her all the time?)_

  
Of course. But then he feels like an asshole the moments those thoughts cross his mind, every time. Her mom was dying. Her mom was more important. And now that her mom has passed, it makes sense that she might need some time alone. But everything in him is screaming that it’s wrong, that he should be with her, should be helping her, that she should want him there.  
He’d just dropped her off at her place after a perfectly nice evening. He can’t believe that he’s hardly been away from her for 30 minutes and already that little voice is nagging him.

  
_You’re not enough for her._

  
_Asshole._  


~

  
Flour shot from the end of the spatula, flying through the kitchen before landing right across Eddie’s cheeks. He sputtered in shock for a moment, then gave his son a not-very-scary glare and charged towards him, hands outstretched, ready to tickle him so hard the spatula would fall right out of his hands.

  
Christopher squealed, laughing and throwing even more flour across the room.

  
“Hey, kid.” Eddie chuckled. “There won’t be any cookies for Santa if the flour never makes it into the bowl.”

  
Chris quieted at that, creasing his eyebrows, and Eddie never knew a kid so little could have so many forehead wrinkles. “What’s wrong?”

  
“What if Santa doesn’t come?”

  
Now Eddie was the one with all the wrinkles. “Why wouldn’t he come?”

  
Christopher had actual tears streaming down his face all of the sudden, and Eddie couldn’t bear it. He got down on one knee and brushed a curl away from Christopher’s now-damp cheeks. “Santa could never forget about you, Chris. You’re the best kid.”

  
“No…” He sniffled. “I’m bad. Sometimes I don’t think about Mom. And you’re still so sad. And when I ask you about her it makes you mad but I don’t know what I did.”

  
“Oh, Chris.” He pulled him into a tight hug. “I know you still love your mom, and she knows it too. It’s okay if you don’t think about her all the time. It means you’re healing. She would want that.”

  
Chris’s tears flowed freely now and Eddie’s heart broke a little. “Can you tell me about Mom?”

  
Eddie choked. “Not - not right now, Chris.” He sighed. “It’s...difficult for me. But I love you, Chris. And I promise we’ll be okay.”

  
~

  
A loud clinking of glass brought the loud dinner conversation to a halt. Buck quickly took one more sip of wine and winked at Abby to his left before giving Maddie his full attention.

  
“Hello! Hello everyone!” She grinned and took a deep breath. “First of all, thank you Bobby and Athena for hosting this beautiful Christmas dinner. I’d heard my baby brother rave about your cooking, Bobby, and it was about time I got to taste it for myself.”

  
Bobby chuckled. The rest of the table held their breath.

  
“Well,” Maddie tried her best to feign a serious face. “I’m glad we could all be here together so that I could tell you…” she grasped Chim’s shoulder for support. “We’re having a GIRL!”

  
The table erupted into cheers. “I knew it!” Hen exclaimed, pumping her fist.

  
“YES!” Buck shouted, turning to Abby who mirrored his excitement.

Soon, the questions began to fly - how long had they known? what color will they paint the nursery? have they considered the name Hen? The next 20 minutes were filled with squealing and planning and cheering and laughing.

  
Eventually, Buck just sat back and watched the joy on his sister’s face as she chatted with all of his coworkers and as Chimney beamed up at her. _Now that’s magic_. The thought crossed his mind before logic could push it away. He turned to Abby, suddenly, his heart swelling. “How many kids do you want to have?”

  
Now _that’s_ a way to silence a room.

  
Karen let out a nervous laugh from across the table. Hen hushed her and leaned in, eyes wide. Abby choked on her wine. “Wha - what?”

  
All eyes were on him and the regret he felt almost immediately threatened to overwhelm him. But now that the question was out there, come to think of it, he really wanted to know. Maybe magic wasn’t real but he knew kids were his key to getting anywhere close. He wanted to know, and he wanted to know _right now._ “How many kids do you want to have?”

  
“Buck…” Abby lowered her voice, glancing nervously around. “Can we talk about this later?”

  
He looked at Maddie, whose face had quickly gone from joy to concern. He started to feel bad from taking away from her big announcement. As if she’d read his mind, she nodded, encouraging him to continue. He gulped, steeling himself. “How many?”

  
Abby looked panicked. “I - I’m not sure I want any. I’d never felt that strongly about it before, and then everything with my mom -"

  
“So,” Buck’s brow furrowed, and his eyes were boring straight into his leftover mashed potatoes, unable to meet her eyes. “You don’t want kids with me.”

  
No one else dared speak now. Chim took a bite of applesauce and the spoon clanging against his plate was deafening.

  
“I want to travel, Buck.” Abby threw up her hands. “I don’t even know who I am, how could I have kids, you know? I need some time to find myself, I need -"

  
Buck wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin before throwing it down next to his plate. “Do you know what _I_ need? Like, do you have any idea?”

  
The silence felt like years to him. Abby was at a loss for words.

  
He knew he was being dramatic but all of this was too much. His chair scraped as he pushed it away and stood up. “Bobby, Athena, as Maddie said, I can’t thank you enough for dinner. Hen, Karen - I love you guys.” He came up behind Maddie and wrapped his arm around her as best as he could. “I’m so happy for you guys. Merry Christmas everybody.”

  
Maddie melted into him, tearing up a little. “Don’t go.”

  
He stepped back and mustered a smile, making a point to avoid Abby’s stare. “Don’t forget - Evan can be a girl’s name too, you know,” he shrugged, “if Hen doesn’t work out.”

~

  
He’d been in the car for probably 40 minutes, driving aimlessly, and he couldn’t tell you a single thing that played on the radio even though he had the volume up as high as he could stand. Listening to insufferable pop covers and the insufferable Taylor Kelly was better than being alone with his thoughts right now. Buck shouldn’t be surprised. He’d known that Abby seemed to put herself and her mom above him, this is nothing new. Asshole. Her mom was dying. He also knows that kids aren’t for everyone. But something about the way Maddie and Chim were absolutely glowing made him suddenly realize how much he wanted - needed - more with someone. Or at least now he's ready to admit he'd secretly hoped for it.

  
“As always, thanks for tuning in.” Taylor Kelly’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Tonight we are talking about wishes and dreams. What’s your wish this Christmas?”

  
“My wish?” Buck scoffed and reached for the dial, “is to change the radio station.”

  
A new voice spoke. “The subject of this evening’s medical update is ‘You and Your Spleen’.”

  
“Not on your life!” He turned the dial again.

“Up next: Jingle Bells backwards! A new recording by -"

  
He groaned, giving up and giving in to Taylor Kelly once and for all.

  
“Okay, Texas, go ahead.” He heard her say.

  
“Hello, this is Christopher ----,” the radio bleeped.

  
“No last names, Chris. You sound younger than our normal caller. But go ahead, what’s your Christmas wish?”

  
The kid spoke. “It’s not for me, it’s for my dad. I think he needs to get married again.”

  
“Where’s your mom?”

  
“She died.”

  
Taylor Kelly hummed in sympathy and Buck hummed along with her. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  
“I’ve been very sad but I think he’s worse. He tries to make me feel better but it always makes him sadder.”

“Is your dad home right now? Could you go get him so that I could try to help?”

  
Buck laughed at her audacity. “What? Hang up, Chris, don’t listen to her!” He shouted to the empty car, as if the boy could hear him.

  
“No way!” Chris shouted. “He’d kill me!”

“Trust me Chris,” Buck could hear Taylor’s growing excitement.

  
“Okayyy…but if he yells at me I’m never listening to your show again.”

  
Taylor chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  
~

  
Eddie was sitting out on the porch when his son’s shouts interrupted the silence. “Yeah, buddy, what’s up?”’

  
Chris continued to shout from inside. “There’s someone on the phone for you.”

  
Eddie grumbled, but made his way into the living room and lifted the phone to his ear. “This is Eddie.”

“Hi Eddie,” an unfamiliar voice spoke. “This is Taylor Kelly from The Talk with Taylor Kelly, broadcasting live in LA.”

  
“Are you selling something? Is this one of those auto warranty calls?”

  
Taylor chuckled. “No, I’m not selling anything. Your son called and I just want to give you some advice.”

  
Eddie rubbed his forehead. “Wait, who did you say this is?”

  
“This is Taylor Kelly. You are live on the air.”

  
He clasped his hand over the mic on his cell phone and swiveled back towards his son. “You called a radio station?”

  
“Eddie?” Taylor’s voice was muffled.

  
“Yeah, sorry, I’m here.”

  
“I’m doing a program on Christmas wishes, and your son’s wish is for you to get married again. It seems he’s worried about you and having a little trouble expressing that.”

  
“Chris!” Eddie growled. “Get over here, if I have to suffer through this, you have to be here with me.”

  
“Please, Eddie? I think it would really make him feel better. It’s his Christmas wish.”

  
Eddie sank into the couch, pulling Chris down with him with a sigh. “Okay.”

  
“Alright,” Taylor started. “How long has it been since you lost your wife?”

  
~

  
Buck had turned the volume up even higher, all thoughts of Abby had conveniently washed away.

  
“Ms. Kelly,” the man cleared his throat, “I don’t mean to be rude -”

  
Taylor cut in. “And I don’t mean to invade your privacy!”

  
“Sure you do.” Buck laughed.

  
“Sure you do.” The man on the radio scoffed.

Buck jumped, then smiled.

  
“Look, Ms. Kelly. We’re dealing with it. We had a pretty rough time at first but Chris and I will get along just fine again. As soon as I break his radio.”

  
Taylor laughed. “Eddie, you can tell a lot from a person’s voice, and I can tell that you’re a great man and a great father. But I just have a few questions. Are you sleeping at night?”

  
The boy jumped in. “He doesn’t sleep at all.”

  
Buck felt his chest squeeze.

  
The man sighed too. “I’m restless. It’s Christmas. Shannon - uh, my wife - she loved it. She made the holidays so beautiful. It’s just tough this time of year. Any kid needs their mother.”  


“Could it be,” Taylor asked, “that you need someone just as much as Christopher does?”

  
“Yes.” Buck couldn’t help but whisper, staring off into the road ahead.

  
Taylor cut in. “Don’t answer that. Eddie, Chris, please stay on the line, we’ll come right back in a moment to take some messages from callers and dig a bit deeper.”

~

  
Chris had fallen completely asleep, his head in Eddie’s lap. Eddie ran his free hand through his son’s curls and watched his chest rising and falling with his quiet snores.

  
“If there was one question I was allowed to ask -”

  
Eddie rolled his eyes. _This Taylor Kelly never quits_. “Oh, go ahead.”

  
“People who have loved once are far more likely to love again. Do you think there’s someone out there you could love as much as your wife?”

  
He thought for a moment, letting out a breath. “It’s hard to imagine.”

  
“What are you going to do?”

“Well...I’m going to get out of bed every morning. Breathe in and out all day long. And then after a while I won’t have to remind myself to get out of bed, breathe in and out. And maybe after a while I won’t have to think about how great I had it for a while.”

  
“Eddie, what was so special about your wife?”

  
He thought for a long moment. “She was like coming home - only to no home I’d ever known. I was taking her hand to help her out of a car, and I just knew it. It was like...magic.”

  
“Well everyone, thank you so much for listening. It’s about time we wrap up our program tonight. I’m Taylor Kelly, and this has been the Talk with Taylor. To all my listeners out there - I hope you have a magical and Merry Christmas. And to you, 'Restless in Texas', I hope you call again soon and let us know how it’s going.”

  
“Oh, you can count on it.”

  
~

Buck reluctantly pulled into his driveway and turned his car off. He didn’t spend a single moment thinking about Abby for the rest of the night.

The man's word's kept ringing through his head. "It was like...magic."

_Magic._

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is Sleepless in Seattle (obviously). It won't follow the plot exactly but as a disclaimer, I ripped some of the best parts right out of the movie and put them in here because it's way more enjoyable that way. 
> 
> Rated teen for very mild language but that's all!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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